Roommates
by thehivequeen
Summary: Dave has a huge crush on his college roommate, John, and it can get pretty awkward. It doesn't help that John has a girlfriend! But John isn't as immune to Dave's charms as he thinks he is...
1. Chapter 1

_I just caught up with the latest pages of Homestuck (can't wait for the new pages to come out) and the idea for this story has been bouncing around my head. Hope you like it! _

* * *

Bro slams the trunk, having taken the last of my stuff out of the car. I am holding a box of odds and ends, ready to make the last trip up the stairs to my dorm room.

We walk up and I deposit my stuff on the bed. My roommate still hasn't shown up, but I'm kind of glad about that. This way, I can have all my stuff set up and ready for an amazingly ironic and cool first impression. That's what I'm hoping for, anyways.

Bro turns to me, and hands me one last package, a gift from him. I open it and a bunch of smuppets come flying out, way more than you would think fit into the box. Nestled in with the smuppets is 'Lil Cal, my Bro's favorite puppet. I keep my face neutral, but inside I feel torn between happiness and sadness. My childhood was never normal, and neither was my relationship with my Bro, but I am going to miss him.

We don't hug goodbye, we just stare at each other from behind our matching triangular sunglasses. Then, without another word, he's gone and I'm alone to set up my room.

Not long after I finish arranging my dead things collection and squeezing my turntables into a corner, I hear noises from outside the room- my roommate? He lets himself into the room, carrying boxes and smiling at a girl who comes in behind him.

He sees me lounging on the bed and his grin gets even wider. I'm pretty sure my cool first impression is ruined by all the plush, jutting rumps that surround me on my bed; thanks a lot Bro.

He has extremely messy black hair, bright blue eyes behind rectangular glasses, and buck teeth. He is wearing a white t shirt with some sort of green ghost on it, and faded and worn jeans. He's skinny and gangly, about a head shorter than me. Overall, he is very cute in a nerdy sort of way.

"Hi! I'm John Egbert!" He says, blue eyes dancing with excitement. "This is my girlfriend Rose Lalonde!" I can't help but feel a twinge when he says girlfriend, but it's probably for the best: dating your roommate could get messy. Anyways, I literally just met the guy, why am I already thinking about dating him?

"Dave strider." I reply, keeping my face calm as ever.

I see Rose looking around my half of the room with a calculating, judgmental eye. She is pretty, with bleach blonde hair not unlike my own pulled back with a headband. She wears black lipstick, a white t shirt, a purple scarf, and jean shorts.

"I like your glasses." John says, still smiling goofily, his buck teeth making his already cute smile that much more adorable. I give him a thank you smirk and he and Rose head downstairs to grab the rest of his stuff. I consider grabbing all the smuppets and shoving them under the bed, but don't. They've already seen the colorful plushes, hiding them now would definitely not be cool. I've just got to play them off as some sort of ironic statement, just like Bro always did.

John and rose come back upstairs and start unpacking. John has a lot less stuff than I do; he just unpacks a lot of posters and sets some kind of magic chest at the foot of his bed. I feel a little better about my smuppets when I realize that his posters are all of movies no sane person should ever like: Con Air, Little Monsters, Mac and Me, and more. Soon, he is set up, and Rose tells him that she needs to go. They kiss goodbye, and she's gone, leaving John and me alone.

I open my mini fridge and pull out an apple juice.

"Do you want one?" I ask John, and he shakes his head no.

"So, what are you majoring in?" He asks me, a genuinely curious look on his face.

"Music." I reply. "What about you?"

"I'm not really sure yet. Maybe directing movies, or becoming a professional magician. There isn't a major for that one, but maybe I could major in theater or something!" One corner of my mouth lifts in an involuntary half smile, but I just can't suppress it. This guy is silly, but in an endearing way that just makes me like him more. Man, I really don't want to fall for him; that would be another unrequited crush in a line of unrequited crushes and I'm done with pining away from the sidelines.

I'm just going to have to do my best to suppress these feelings of attraction and find someone who will actually reciprocate my feelings.

* * *

_Hope you liked it, please review! _


	2. Chapter 2

_Hey guys! Thanks so much for reviewing, following, and favoriting (is that even a word? Eh, who cares)! Well, just a warning, Dave is not going to be quite like he is in the actual homestuck. I'll do my best, but I think he, and probably the other characters, will be pretty OC. Sorry! Love you guys!_

* * *

Before we head out to our first classes, John and I make plans to meet up for lunch at one of the cafes on campus.

"Bring anyone you want, any friends you make in class… and any cute girls you meet in class." He says, trying to wag his eyebrows suggestively but mostly just succeeding in looking ridiculous (and adorable). "I'm gonna bring Rose and anyone else that I meet as well!" He was so excited for the first day of class, as was I, but I didn't tell _him_ that.

"Fuck, by the end of the day, I'll just be rolling in new buddies." I replied, speaking from experience. Bro taught me well: anime shades and all, people think I'm cool, and cool people make lots of friends.

"Haha, yeah. By the way, what's your pesterchum account name? Mine is ectoBiologist, which is totally what I would major in if such a field actually existed."

"It's turntechGodhead."

"Nice one! See you at lunch!" We head our separate ways, me towards music theory, and John towards some required math class that I was probably going to have to take at some point.

I arrive at the perfect time; class is about to start so about half the class has already shown up. I scan the room and decide on a seat right in the middle, with an empty seat on one side. The girl next to me flashes me a gigantic smile and I resist the urge to smile back, nodding at her instead.

Our teacher pairs us up for some ridiculous get- to-know you exercise. Damn, and I thought that kind of stuff ended when high school did.

"Hi! I'm Jade." She says, somehow smiling even more brightly. This girl seems even more bubbly and chipper than John. Her bright green eyes sparkle behind round rimmed glasses.

"Dave Strider" I replied, answering her smile with a stoic expression.

"Can I tell you a secret?" She asked, lowering her voice dramatically. "I'm horrible at music!"

"Then why would you take a music class?" I ask her, keeping as much of the genuine curiosity I feel out of my voice.

"Well, I'm actually majoring in horticulture but I needed one 'arts' class to graduate and this one sounded interesting. I sorta just ignored the fact that I really and truly suck at music." She giggles, seemingly not worried in the least.

"Well, I could help you if you wanted." I find myself saying. I'm not sure why, but I find myself liking this girl more and more every time she opens her mouth. Platonically, of course, I've never liked a girl that way ever, at least not that I remember. No, she's just one of those people you meet who you click with right away, but don't know why you do.

"Sounds great!" She beamed, and just like that, we're friends. I invite her to meet up with John and me at lunch later, and she readily agrees. We exchange persterchum handles, hers is gardenGnostic.

I'm done with classes until after lunch, so I decide to pester one of my chums.

-turntechGodhead [TG] began pestering ectoBiologist [EB]-

TG: yo

TG: Egbert

EB: oh, hey Dave! How was class? :B

TG: I have a fucking lame teacher, but I met someone you'll like

EB: did you invite her?

TG: yeah

EB: great!

EB: hey, I gotta go to class, see you later!

-ectoBiologist [EB] ceased pestering turntechGodhead [TG]-

Well, so much for that. I sigh, the one downside to only having 2 classes today is that I have to fill the rest of the time somehow. I decide to go back to the room and mix some sick beats before lunch. Hopefully that will pass the time.

* * *

I walk up to the café, it's small, but obviously one of the main hangouts for students. I scan the room, casually slouching with one hand in my pocket, looking for John and Rose.

"Dave!" I hear a familiar voice calling me. I look over to see John standing and waving his arms at me from a table across the room. I walk over, and he motions for me to sit in the chair next to him. As I sit, I hear this loud farting sound, and realize its coming from me. John cracks up, and I look under my ass. Sure enough, there's a whoopee cushion on my seat. I compose my face, glad that I'm not prone to blushing, because when I heard that sound, I just about wanted to die.

"I got you! Man, do I love playing pranks on people!" Is it bad that I just want to grab him and kiss that goofy smile off his face? Yes, it is, because I've known this guy for less than a day, and I'm already falling for him. Hard.


	3. Chapter 3

_Sorry it's been so long guys, I've been busy with summer homework. Basically I've put it off all summer but there's only a week left before school starts so I really have to get my butt in gear __ anyways, here's the newest chapter! Enjoy!_

I looked over at the door and saw Jade come into the room. I gave her a casual wave, and she waved enthusiastically back.

"Here's Jade." I told John and Rose. John grinned and stuck the refilled whoopee cushion on the only remaining empty seat. Even I had to stifle a laugh when Jade sat on it, it was weirdly hilarious. Jade laughed just as hard as John, while Rose chuckled and I pretended to remain unamused by John's shenanigans.

Introductions ensued, then we fell into some pleasant chatter about our various classes. I learned that Rose wanted to become a therapist/ author, and that she was majoring in psychology with a minor in English. We all exchanged pesterchum handles and vowed to chat every night, then we all went to our next classes with plans to meet back at the café for lunch the next day.

A few months passed and our little group of four became very close. I continued to think that everything that John did was unbearably adorable, and wished that he wasn't dating Rose. The thing was, I actually liked Rose, quite a bit, and she and John were great together. She was smart and funny, and I figured that I could get used to all of her psychoanalysis someday. Her more serious outlook on life balanced out John's goofy silliness. When he was too crazy, she focused him, and when she was too serious, he helped lighten her mood.

We joined four clubs, one for each of our hobbies, and went to them together. Magicians club for John, gardening club for Jade, DJ club for me, and group therapy sessions (not exactly a club) for Rose. She would sit us down and play the part of the therapist, and we'd talk about our feelings (sortof). It was great; I loved being part of such a tight knit group of friends.

But after those first few months, our little group stopped being so perfect.

"Why aren't you out with Rose?" I asked John one day as we sat in front of a small TV we had gotten in our room and played video games. "I thought it was date night?"

"She cancelled." John sighed, mouth twisting downwards in disappointment. "Do you remember that girl he met, Kanaya? Well, she spends more time with her 'new best friend' than she does with me these days." I had noticed that Rose was around a lot less and that John had been a little down for the past week.

"I mean, I understand that she's made a great new friend, and I'm really happy to see how happy she is, but I wish she would make more time for me. I even suggested that she invite Kanaya to a double date with us one night. That plan was vetoed because apparently Kanaya just got out of a relationship so she doesn't have a date."

"I'm sorry man, but I'm sure she will start hanging out with you more soon. She's just caught up in the throes of having a new best friend." I said, trying not to show how perversely happy I was that he and Rose were having problems.

"I thought _I _was her best friend." He grumbled.

"You're killing me here, bro." I said with mock hurt.

"Oh, sorry Dave! Of course you're my best friend; I just meant that I thought I was _her_ best friend, even if she isn't mine"

"Chill. I was just messing with you. God, for a self- proclaimed master trickster, you really are easy to trick." He laughingly punched my arm and we went back to chatting about nothing and playing video games.

The next problem our little group faced was Jade. More specifically, Jades feelings. For me.

-gardenGnostic [GG] began pestering turntechGodhead [TG]-

GG: hey, Dave?

GG: you there?

TG: What's up?

GG: well, I was just wondering how you were doing

GG: …

GG: and I kinda had something that I maybe wanted to tell you?

TG: well, I've just been messing around on my turntables, trying to hash out some fresh beats

GG: cool!

TG: so what did you want to tell me?

GG: well…it's kind of hard for me to say

TG: whatever it is, I wont judge

GG: I know! That's one of the reasons I like you so much

GG: and speaking of liking you…

GG: well, I kinda love you!

TG: um

GG: and I mean that in a completely unplatonic way

GG: Dave?

TG: sorry, I'm just shocked

TG: and I'm also sorry because I don't like you that way, you're more like a sister to me.

TG: I like someone else at the moment, and he's really great…

TG: anyways, I'm going to go back to those fresh beats I was talking about, talk to you later!

-turntechGodhead [TG] ceased pestering gardenGnostic [GG]-

GG: wait, he?!

Well, if that wasn't the most awkward conversation I had ever had. I felt horrible, I mean, she confesses her love and I just brush her off! The next day I apologized to her, and she did as well, both of us promising that we would forget it had ever happened and go back to being friends. Sadly, our friendship just wasn't what it used to be, it was still a little awkward between us and sometimes I would see her staring at me with a sad, longing look on her face.

It was always a little awkward when we met for lunch at the café every day, what with Rose either being absent or bringing Kanaya with her, and the tension between Jade and I. Kanaya was nice, but she just didn't fit into our close group, and I couldn't help but think that there might be something more than friendship going on between her and Rose.

The only relationship that really stayed the same was me and John's. We were best friends, and I wanted it to stay that way.

It just gave me extra motivation to never, ever let him know that I was in love with him.

_Hope you liked it, please Review! XO!_


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